McKinley the Hiking Cat

He snowshoes, too. #respect

If you haven’t figured it out by now, we love finding things that show just how special the Adirondacks are. Unique places to visit, eat, activities, events, and views -- we live to share what we love.

Meow

That's why we couldn't wait to share the story of McKinley the hiking cat and aspiring 46er and his owner, Charlotte Simons. We first read about McKinley in one of our favorite ADK websites, Adirondack Explorer. As the article reports, training a cat for hiking is no easy feat. You can’t just go out into the wilderness with your cat and say, “C’mon, let’s hike.”

Simons started by helping McKinley become accustomed to wearing a harness, and then a leash. They took short trips around their home and yard, before finally teaching McKinley the commands necessary for him to safely travel beyond his home base.

Unlike dogs, whose behavior is easily motivated through simple food rewards, cats and McKinley proved less pliable. For McKinley, it was physical contact and being picked up and held that stimulated the most motivation.

Soon McKinley was scaling the heights of Mt. Van Hoevenberg and parts of Whiteface Mountain.

Full transparency, we aren't cat people, per se, but this kick-ass Siberian feline won us over with his fierce gaze and incredible story. Our extended family includes a golden retriever, Havanese, a golden-doodle and several types of terriers.

The High Peaks are for pussies.

Out on the trails, we see lots of canine friends but have not encountered any felines. In fact, while providing our ADK Taste recommendations, we often note which places are pet-friendly, but what we ultimately mean is dog-friendly.

So, learning about McKinley and his exploits was a bit of a revelation. As far as we can tell, there are no feline 46ers, but we sure are cheering on McKinley and can't wait to hear more about his progress.

He's inspiring us to seek new heights in all we do. Keep on truckin' @mckinleythecat!

p.s. He snowshoes, too. #respect